Chasing after her husband? Is it even possible to win him back?

"My mother, according to the officials of the Demon Exorcising Bureau, has been acting somewhat crazy since that incident. If Xiaoya and I are far apart for too long..." Queya noticed Chu Xunfeng's frown and explained softly.

The outcome of the tooth loss wasn't mentioned, but... it must have been due to an illness.

Missing Tooth casually tossed the talisman he was carrying down and went to find a chair in the inner room behind the curtain. The little talisman, with a piece of dried meat in its mouth, glanced at the three of them but didn't pay much attention. Instead, it moved closer to Missing Tooth's mother's feet and gently nudged the woman's leg.

The woman, whose face looked rather old, then made a move. She bent down, felt around for a few moments, and then took the little demon into her arms.

Bixie quietly lay in the old woman's arms, tearing and chewing on the dried meat.

"Young Master Chu, sisters, this is the only chair we have at home. How about I take you outside to find a place to sit..." Miss Tooth carried a small wooden stool from the back room to the front hall.

He seemed somewhat embarrassed, mainly because he didn't know the two beautiful older sisters. If it were just Young Master Chu present, he certainly wouldn't be so reserved.

After all, when he went to deliver food to Chu Xunfeng before, Chu Xunfeng would often open the door for him shirtless. Queya knew that Young Master Chu didn't care about such things, but if Young Master Chu brought people to his house, he couldn't properly entertain the guests, which would inevitably make people look down on Young Master Chu.

"It's alright. When I was out and about, I slept on the ground and under the open sky." Ao Hanli seemed to see the awkwardness of the missing tooth. Although she couldn't directly understand the feeling of the missing tooth, she had her own way of doing it. She sat down on the small stool and even tried it out.

Xu Bailing didn't say anything, but she smiled and took the chair, sat down, and nodded and smiled at the person with missing teeth.

The two women sat far away from the table in the main room, leaving the place for Chu Xunfeng and Queya, one human and one demon, to talk.

"How did you get this injury on your face?" Chu Xunfeng asked, looking at the missing tooth.

The rabbit demon boy had a straight knife wound on his face, starting from his right forehead, slicing across his right eye, grazing his nose, cutting through his lips, and finally ending at his chin—a horrifying scar.

"I was slashed by the guy guarding us in the dungeon while protecting Little Tooth." When this scar was mentioned, Missing Tooth raised his hand and touched the thick scab that had formed on his chin. He seemed to want to smile, but the huge scar made his smile look somewhat ferocious.

"You're lucky to have survived." Chu Xunfeng said with a helpless smile, half teasing and half serious.

“Hey, who says otherwise?” Missing Tooth was rather carefree. “That’s my brother. Even if my brother and I were to die, he would die after me.”

"You're responsible." Chu Xunfeng looked at the missing tooth. "You don't need to worry about the scars on your face. The Dragon Clan will take care of them for you."

After he finished speaking, Chu Xunfeng turned his head and glanced at the two girls huddled together, seemingly whispering to each other.

Missing Tooth scratched his head, seemingly a little uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" Chu Xunfeng asked, looking at the man with the missing tooth.

"It still feels a bit unreal." Missing Tooth said, turning his head to look at the cub nestled in his mother's arms, being comfortably stroked by the woman's hands. For a moment, his expression was even somewhat blank. "I used to think that being able to get in touch with Young Master Chu was already incredibly lucky."

Chu Xunfeng remained silent.

He could tell that the carefree demeanor of the man with missing teeth was just a facade. He seemed to be stuck in a quagmire, struggling internally, with all sorts of emotions brewing and mixing. He needed someone to pull him out of the mire.

And it seems that I can just reach out a hand to him.

"And now they're suddenly telling me that Ah Chou is some big shot, that he suffered some trouble before, and now he's received benefits promised by these big shots, all because of Ah Chou..." Que Ya looked at the little Bixie being held by his mother, his tone somewhat unsteady, mixed with a lot of emotions, "I suddenly don't know what to do."

"Do you hate him?" Chu Xunfeng's sudden question made the two women sitting not far away stop talking and quietly turn their attention to the two people at the small table.

Missing Tooth shook his head blankly. "I can't explain it. Even if I was told these things were because of Ugly, but... wasn't it me who picked Ugly up?"

The mother with the missing tooth continued to stroke the little monster, but the monster stopped eating and looked up at the boy sitting in the chair, his face contorted by scars.

“That means you don’t hate.” Chu Xunfeng’s business remained uneventful. “You hate someone else.”

Queya withdrew his gaze, realizing that Young Master Chu seemed to want to comfort him, so he quietly waited for Chu Xunfeng to continue.

"You hate yourself." Chu Xunfeng's voice suddenly became very gentle. "To say you hate yourself is not quite right. Few people truly hate themselves. But you are resentful, resentful of your own weakness, your inability to resist man-made disasters, and your inability to protect yourself, let alone your brother."

"This feeling isn't pleasant, is it?" Chu Xunfeng looked at the bewildered and enlightened expression on Queya's face.

After pondering for a long time, Queya suddenly asked Chu Xunfeng, "Young Master Chu, have you ever been like me before?"

“Yes, everyone makes their way step by step.” Chu Xunfeng smiled. “You’re a bit better off than me. You don’t need to waste too much time. Eventually, once you realize it, the opportunity will be right in front of you.”

"While the idea that fortune and misfortune are intertwined is not absolute, it does hold some truth," Chu Xunfeng said earnestly, looking at the missing tooth.

"Opportunity?" Miss Tooth was stunned for a moment, unable to process what opportunity Chu Xunfeng was talking about. Or rather, with Miss Tooth's limited perspective, his thinking couldn't expand too much, and he hadn't had time to change his mindset.

Ah Chou's attitude towards warding off evil spirits.

“Yes, opportunity.” Chu Xunfeng nodded vigorously. “If you want to become a certain kind of person, then such a path will appear in front of you.”

"You no longer need to travel around searching and trying to change your fate."

"You have the opportunity to choose your destiny. Now it's up to you to choose the right path and how you choose to walk it."

Chu Xunfeng turned to look at Ah Chou.

Missing teeth, it suddenly turned its head and looked at the ugly-cute little beast.

Ah Chou, she is... my chance to choose my destiny?

Chapter 41, A Gentle Push

The small main room was poorly lit, located at the end of an alley, with only a ray of sunlight streaming in through the doorway.

The sunlight wasn't high, probably only illuminating a small area inside the lintel. The gaze of the missing tooth looking at the evil spirit was just enough to capture that beam of sunlight.

Tiny dust particles glistened in the sunlight.

The little demon placed the dried meat on its lap, raised its head, and its emerald green eyes, like jade, reflected the sunlight, and its own image was reflected in its round eyes.

The entire front hall fell silent after Chu Xunfeng's words.

Ao Hanli could tell that Chu Xunfeng was deliberately trying to make the rabbit demon boy realize the incredibly noble status of the Evil-Repelling Blade among demons...

even.

Ao Hanli's gaze slowly shifted to the human youth, while Chu Xunfeng's gaze remained fixed on Queya. His expression was calm, his eyes clear and cold, and in his dark pupils, the rabbit demon youth's dazed expression was also reflected.

At that moment, Ao Hanli suddenly had a feeling...

Chu Xunfeng had already guessed that it was the Dragon Clan's, or rather, his mother's, intention. At this moment, he was testing and considering whether to push Queya onto the surging wave.

Missing teeth has a unique advantage: at this moment, he is the only person Xiao Bixie is close to and qualified to think independently.

The reason he was missing a tooth was because of Chu Xunfeng behind him.

Just like now, he looked down at the missing tooth, waiting for him to decide his fate. He sat there, as if he were reaching out to press down on the bewildered rabbit demon boy, waiting for him to make a decision, and then... give him a push.

Ao Hanli was startled by her own sudden illusion. She even felt goosebumps all over her body, and a shiver ran through her.

But soon, the Dragon Girl couldn't help but doubt her own guess. Did Chu Xunfeng really have such exaggerated foresight and thinking?

She didn't know, she couldn't fathom, that Ao Hanli suddenly realized she actually knew nothing about Chu Xunfeng.

“Young Master…” Miss Tooth felt as if he had touched something. He could feel Chu Xunfeng deliberately pushing him from behind. He didn’t mind, but he was just confused. After staring into Bixie’s clear eyes for a long time, he even felt a sense of guilt.

Young Master Chu was teaching himself how to use Ah Chou.

"All decisions should be made by you," Chu Xunfeng suddenly laughed.

The strange and heavy atmosphere in the air suddenly dissipated after Chu Xunfeng spoke, and the heavy air seemed to start flowing again.

“You saved Bixie.”

"The sins suffered by your whole family are yours."

"So the final outcome is up to you to decide." Chu Xunfeng's gaze shifted from Queya to Achou.

Bixie also raised his gaze and looked at Chu Xunfeng.

The human and the beast exchanged a glance before looking away, as if they had both seen through each other's thoughts. In that instant, their eye contact seemed to confirm what the other was thinking.

"You still have plenty of time to think. Perhaps you could ask Ah Chou what she thinks. She... is very intelligent and should be treated as a human being." Chu Xunfeng changed the subject, leaving the heavy topic behind.

"Clever? She?" The toothless man raised an eyebrow, looking at the little beast huddled in its mother's arms, baring its teeth at him. Such a human-like reaction certainly qualified it as clever, but if you treated it as a human...

"Think it over carefully. If you can't make up your mind for now, I have a suggestion: go and learn something. If you can't find the path you should take, then go and find out how many paths there are in this world." Chu Xunfeng stood up, ready to leave.

"Young Master Chu, let me see you off." Queya also stood up, but Chu Xunfeng immediately pressed his shoulder down and made him sit back down.

"No need. Spend some time with your family. The important person you mentioned will probably come looking for you later. There's not much I can teach you, nor should I." Chu Xunfeng looked down at Queya.

Even the toothless child looked up, gazing at the tall human youth in his field of vision.

"Remember, you have resources, a lot, but not much. Make the most of them." Chu Xunfeng patted the man with the missing tooth on the shoulder. "I'll come find you again later."

"Okay." Missing Tooth carefully considered what Chu Xunfeng had said today.

The capital is large, but not much.

Chu Xunfeng and the other two had been gone for quite some time when Queya finally came to his senses. He understood what the young master meant; Queya wasn't stupid, he was clever and intelligent.

"The chance is great, but there's only one chance, so I have to think about it carefully... right?" Miss Tooth muttered to himself.

"You guessed right." A silvery laugh suddenly came from inside the cottage.

Missing Tooth paused for a moment, then looked towards the door, but seeing no one, he realized that the voice was coming from beside him.

He turned his head and saw only his mother, who had closed her eyes at some point and was now fast asleep, and... Ah Chou?

"Was that you speaking just now?" Miss Tooth stared wide-eyed at Ugly.

The ugly-cute little beast is just baring its teeth at its missing teeth, which speaks volumes.

At this moment, the three people who walked out of the alley remained silent.

The Dragon Girl hesitated several times before finally speaking to Chu Xunfeng, "What you just did..."

She paused halfway through her sentence, staring suspiciously at the human youth's calm expression for a long time. "Is it that you want to push Miss Tooth into officialdom?"

Xu Bailing stood to the side, but she seemed quite silent. However, she did not seem surprised that Ao Hanli had pointed it out. It seemed that she had guessed Chu Xunfeng's thoughts and was quite certain of it.